The four-way meeting will be held on the sidelines of a conference of ministers from Afghanistan’s neighbours, at which Foreign Minister Wang Yi will host ministers and officials from Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, the Chinese ministry said.

A State Department spokesperson said that Special Representative for Afghanistan Tom West planned to attend the meeting for the United States.

03:31

Thousands of Afghans flee as UN warns of 'unprecedented' civilian deaths from Taliban offensives

Thousands of Afghans flee as UN warns of 'unprecedented' civilian deaths from Taliban offensives

Attempts by China to mediate in Afghanistan have been in the spotlight since the US withdrew its military from the country in August and the Taliban seized power.

China, which shares a mountainous 76km (47-mile) border with Afghanistan, has urged the Taliban to rein in militants from the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which Beijing claims has incited terrorism and separatism in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang.

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Lin Minwang, a professor of South Asian studies at Fudan University, said Beijing was playing a leading mediatory role in Afghan issues.

“China’s practices and policies are more recognised by neighbouring countries.”

The meeting of those neighbours in China follows Pakistan’s launch of the dialogue mechanism last September, days after the Taliban regained control of resource-rich Afghanistan following the end of a 20-year US-led military mission. A second meeting followed in Iran, when Russia joined the mechanism.

Muttaqi would attend a separate meeting with Afghanistan’s neighbours, the Chinese foreign ministry has said.

Tensions have flared up between the Taliban and some of Afghanistan’s neighbours since the beginning of the year.

Pakistan, whose shared border with Afghanistan stretches 2,670km (1,660 miles), has repeatedly accused the group of allowing militants to launch cross-border attacks, the latest coming last week when four Pakistani soldiers were killed.

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There was reportedly an exchange of fire in January between Turkmen and Afghan border guards, and the Taliban has demanded the return of military planes and helicopters flown to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan by fleeing pilots when the group seized Kabul from the Western-backed Afghan government.

Zhu Yongbiao, director of the Centre for Afghanistan Studies at Lanzhou University, said there were concerns that such tensions could escalate and trigger a proxy war.

“History shows that this could easily happen,” Zhu said. “This is the main reason for this meeting in China, to coordinate positions and avoid such a situation.”

02:21

Heartbreak for Afghan schoolgirls as Taliban orders them back home hours after classrooms reopened

Heartbreak for Afghan schoolgirls as Taliban orders them back home hours after classrooms reopened

Humanitarian aid for the war-torn country will be high on the agenda. Filippo Grandi, chief of the UN’s refugee agency, has said that Afghanistan is experiencing “a very grave crisis”, while the conflict in Ukraine has the potential to divert attention.

Zhu said that despite the war in Ukraine, which has pitted Russia and the US on opposing sides, there could be some common interests on Afghanistan.

“Neither Russia nor the US wants to see any instability in Afghanistan, so there is a foundation for them to talk, though their willingness to cooperate may not be that strong,” he said.

The Taliban government has not been formally recognised by any country, but Zhu said that neighbouring nations would discuss their engagement with the group and possible cross-border cooperation.